Producer Price Index

People who fear the evil head of rising inflation could receive succor Thursday, when the producer price index is expected to show a tiny increase--0.1 percent overall, economists predict--from September's soaring wholesale price growth of 0.9 percent. Some factors that led to September's spike--higher oil and tobacco prices--were tamed in October, said Chicago economist Diane Swonk. September's core PPI, excluding food and energy, was a milder 0.3 percent. October's PPI should be a regular kitten with 0.1...

So what if the prices of imported goods are going up a little bit? The increases may seem slight, but Michael Gregory, senior economist at Toronto-based BMO Financial Group, said they represent a paradigm shift for the U.S. economy. From 1996 to 2003, prices of imported goods declined consistently; now they're edging up. Inflation at the producer level showed a 1.7 percent spike in October, the biggest gain in nearly 15 years. That's one reason the November producer price index from the Labor Department, due...